The end date for a project to add a raised median and improve safety along Hwy. 105 has been delayed to at least late 2023, which has challenged
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businesses. HWY. 105
Conroe/Lake Conroe Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview that a major concern for the Conroe area is the way businesses are affected by the construction. For example, cus- tomer traffic may be rerouted around businesses via relief routes to avoid construction. “With [FM] 2854, people using those opportunities for better traffic flow are driving past these businesses where they would have stopped for gas or something to eat,” Harper said. “There’s some trickle down effects I believe.” A growing corridor Black said the Hwy. 105 project entails installing a raised median bar- rier from FM 2854 to I-45, pavement widening for right-turn lanes, install- ing traffic signals and pavement wid- ening for U-turns. “The proposed improvements are expected to improve safety, reduce crashes, improve traffic operations by better planning how vehicles move through the corridor,” she said. Data from TxDOT shows from 2017-22 there were 1,414 crashes on Hwy. 105 within the project limits. Of these, 39 crashes caused serious injuries and 12 were fatal. From 2017 to 2022 there was a 27.27% increase in crashes within the project limits. Similarly, according to the Traffic Count Database System from TxDOT, the intersection of FM 2854 and Hwy. 105 recorded an annual daily aver- age count of 7,632 vehicles in 2021—a 5.77% increase from 2017. Traffic counts also show an annual daily average count of 35,037 vehicles on Hwy. 105 west of Loop 336, which is a 16.02% increase from 2017-21. Along with traffic, a spring 2021 demographic study for Montgomery ISD by demographics firm Popula- tion and Survey Analysts reported
149
TxDOT’s safety improvement project on Hwy. 105 will install a raised median from FM 2854 to I-45.
105
LAKE CONROE
Timeline: OCT. 2021- END OF 2023
$9.83M Cost:
2854
MARINA DR.
45
[Customers] having to turn around and not knowing the highway, they have been passing us up a lot ... because the traffic is so crazy. CVANNA BOWMAN, A SALES ASSOCIATE WITH SWEET TEXAS TREASURES BOUTIQUE
336
JARRELL DR.
2854
105
N
TRACKING TRAFFIC
From 2017-21, traffic count data from the Texas Department of Transportation highlights that although crashes have increased, so has the number of cars on Hwy. 105.
At Hwy. 2854 Near Marina Dr.
East of Jarrell Dr.
West of Loop 336
East of Loop 336
Near I-45
+5.77% +13.09% +16.15% +16.02% +20.23% -8.23%
50K
40K
30K
20K
10K
0
SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Redoing the road Black said the project will be com- pleted in 13 phases. She said some projects already completed include permanent traffic signals at FM 2854 and Hwy. 105, and adding raised
the Hwy. 105 corridor is projected to add the most new homes in a 10-year period—compared to the FM 149 and FM 1488 corridors—including the 269- acre Pine Lake Cove that had 691 lots planned at the time of the study.
A similar study by PASA released in December 2022 for Conroe ISD found housing starts within the district over- all increased 127% from 2016, when 1,981 starts were recorded, and a 210% increase from 2012 as of the report.
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